


Something Out Of Nothing

by lakesandquarries



Series: Jump the Fence [1]
Category: HLVRAI - Fandom, Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware, Half-Life
Genre: He/Him and They/Them Pronouns for Benrey (Half-Life), M/M, Unreliable Narrator, forzen and darnold will probably also appear but later, kinda. gordon thinks he's right. he might not be!, post Black Mesa, she/her pronouns for sunkist, ship tags are tentative. the frenmy one at least. def boomer, unreality, wikipedia - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:47:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27013753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lakesandquarries/pseuds/lakesandquarries
Summary: Post Black Mesa, things get weird. Well, weirder. The Science Team is back, but it's not just them, and Gordon has to learn how to readjust.
Relationships: Benrey/Gordon Freeman, Benrey/Tommy Coolatta/Gordon Freeman, Bubby/Dr. Coomer (Half-Life), Tommy Coolatta/Gordon Freeman
Series: Jump the Fence [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1971499
Comments: 40
Kudos: 146





	1. started with a big bang

Gordon wakes up on his couch, face pressed against the cushions. He’s sore in places he didn’t know existed and exhausted in a way that goes past physical, but mainly he’s confused. For a moment he just lies there, staring at the dark brown fabric of his couch, appreciating the fact that he’s alive. It’s only when he tries to sit up that he realizes things are off.

His hand is missing, replaced by a prosthetic. An admittedly cool looking one, sleek and orange, but - that wasn’t supposed to be _real._ It was all just a game - or a dream? His VR stuff is nowhere to be seen, and he did essentially just wake up. So why the fuck is he missing a _hand_ now?

A sharp buzz interrupts his thoughts. His phone is on the coffee table next to him, ringing loudly. Gordon lets out a goran, rolling over to grab at it as it screams at him. The caller ID just says “Unknown.” Never a good sign.

“Fuck it,” he says out loud, and answers the call. “Hello?”

“Hello, Gordon!” A familiar voice says, and for a second Gordon thinks he might cry.

“Dr. - Dr. Coomer? Is that you?”

“Indeed it is!” Coomer responds. 

“Holy shit,” Gordon says. “Holy shit.”

“I completely agree,” Coomer says, and in the background Gordon can hear other muffled voices.

“Is - is that Bubby?”

“Yes! Tommy is here as well, along with Sunkist!”

“Can you put me on speaker?”

There’s silence, followed by a very muffled conversation where Gordon can just make out Tommy’s voice. 

“Mr. Freeman?”

“Tommy!” 

“I’m here too, you know,” Bubby cuts in, and there’s a bark in the background.

“It’s so good to hear you guys,” Gordon says, and he means it. He’s smiling so wide that his cheeks hurt. 

“I’m very glad to hear you as well, Gordon. However there’s a few things I must ask you! First of all, where are you right now?” Dr. Coomer asks.

“Uh, my apartment. Why?”

“Do you have a car?” Bubby asks.

“Yeah.”

“We may need some assistance,” Dr. Coomer continues. “For you see, we are all still in Black Mesa!”

“What’s left of it, at least,” Bubby grumbles. 

“What do you mean?” Gordon asks, running his hand through his hair. Oh, that feels weird with the prosthetic.

“It’s real fucked up,” Bubby says, which explains absolutely nothing.

“It looks like it got hit by the Tri-State Tornado of 1925,” Tommy says, which also explains nothing.

“The most "extreme" [ tornado ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado) in recorded history was the [ Tri-State Tornado ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-State_Tornado) , which spread through parts of [ Missouri ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri) , [ Illinois ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois) , and [ Indiana ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana) on March 18, 1925. It is considered an F5 on the [ Fujita Scale ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujita_Scale), even though -”

“Cool, got it, thank you Dr. Coomer.” God, he missed them. Granted, he’s only been apart from them for like ten minutes, but that was ten minutes where he thought he would never see them again. “Right, okay, do you guys need me to come get you?” Oh, fuck, are they gonna need somewhere to stay?” With the initial excitement of hearing his friends fading, Gordon is starting to realize the actual logistics of this. Three entire people have apparently sprung into existence in a place that doesn’t exist. Plus a dog. Where are they gonna stay?

“I don’t wanna be here a second longer than I have to,” Bubby says. “How the hell did you get to wake up somewhere new while we’re all stuck in this shit hole?”

_You’re not real,_ Gordon thinks but doesn’t say. “I dunno, man.” He puts his own phone on speaker, opening the maps app. How the fuck is he gonna find a place that doesn’t exist?

Except when he opens the app it shows him places he has saved. Right under Home is Work, and work is apparently located at “Black Mesa Research Facility”.

“What the fuck,” he says.

“What?” Tommy asks. “Is something wrong, Mr. Freeman?”

“Everything’s fine,” Gordon says. He doesn’t wanna reveal anything to them, not yet at least. That's not a conversation to have over the phone. “I’ll be there in 20, okay? I’m gonna hang up while I drive but call if - if anything happens. I’ll be there soon.”

“We’ll see you then, Gordon,” Dr. Coomer says, and with an echoing bye from the three of them, he hangs up.

\---

He spends the drive over having a mild panic attack. The route feels at once new and familiar, roads he recognizes moving in ways that feel just a little off. Even the music on the radio seems weird, though that might just be his imagination - he doesn’t actually listen to the radio that often.

Black Mesa isn’t a far drive. Gordon can imagine working there, picking an apartment based on location, commuting everyday. But Black Mesa isn’t _real_ . Or, it wasn’t, until today. Because regardless of what he remembers, he pulls into the parking lot and the building is _right there._

He understands what the Science Team was talking about, now. The glass windows are all shattered, the door completely smashed. He carefully picks his way inside, avoiding especially large shards, and the front desk has been crushed by a fallen chunk of ceiling.

He opens his phone and redials Dr. Coomer’s number, hoping for a quick response. He picks up almost instantly. “Hello, Gordon!”

“I’m here! I’m in the front lobby, I think? The aboveground part. Where are you guys?”

“We’re in the main building! I suppose it would be easier for us to come to you, though, wouldn’t it, Gordon?”

“I _really_ do not wanna go any deeper into this place,” Gordon admits. Coomer chuckles.

“I don’t blame you! Well, we’ll start trying to find our way up. Don’t go anywhere!”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Gordon says, and he hangs up again.

He does a little exploring as he waits for the Science Team, wandering around the remains of the lobby. The ceiling has almost completely caved in, but he manages to find a small waiting area that's semi-intact, with one chair left miraculously unscathed. He takes a seat, looking over the assorted magazines left on the table. A couple he even recognizes. He flips through them quickly, and quite a few reference Black Mesa, mentioning their research in fields from genetic engineering to theoretical physics. Apparently the experiment that got them attention in the first place was a successful sheep cloning done decades ago, and that got them enough funding to branch out into other things.

What the fuck.

Well, no one’s here anymore. Can’t hurt if he just...takes them. 

It’s then that he hears voices, distant and indistinct, but Gordon knows his friends well enough by now. He scoops up the magazines and starts heading towards the noise, grabbing the handle to the stairwell just as Coomer pulls it open. Gordon’s pulled with it, colliding with Coomer’s burly chest.

“Hello, Gordon!” Coomer says, wrapping him up in a hug.

“Hi Dr. Coomer,” Gordon wheezes as Coomer’s arms squeeze all the air out of him. He finally releases Gordon, who has to take a second and lean against the wall to get his breath back. Tommy pats him on the shoulder. “Thanks, man,” he says. Tommy beams at him. “Fuck. Okay. It’s good to see you guys again,” Gordon says, some of the tension leaving his shoulders for the first time since he woke up. “Whadya say we get out of here?”

“Please,” Bubby says.

Gordon leads them to the car. Tommy calls shotgun as soon as they step outside, which Gordon is happy to oblige, and soon enough they’re on the road.

“So, I’m not gonna have space in my apartment for everyone to stay. What do you guys think of getting a hotel?”

“We don’t have any money, Mr. Freeman,” Tommy says, turning his pockets inside out.

“It’s cool, I figured I’d cover it.” He doesn’t really have the money for this but it’s fine. It’s fine! He’ll work something out. 

There’s a pretty decent hotel a couple blocks from his apartment. Gordon had stayed there once when the electricity got all fucked up and couldn’t get fixed for a week, and for a few dudes who have presumably lived in Black Mesa their whole lives it’s probably gonna seem _amazing_. 

“They better have a hot tub,” Bubby says from the backseat. Gordon glances in the rearview mirror to see him scrunched up sideways in the middle seat, leaning against Coomer. Neither of them have their seat belts on, though somehow Sunkist does.

“Guys, come on. Wear your seatbelts.” He waits until he hears the click to keep talking. “I’m pretty sure they have one. Shit, maybe I’ll stay with you guys too. Be nicer than my apartment.”

“Uh, Mr. Freeman?”

Gordon risks a glance at the passenger seat. Tommy’s staring intently at his phone, propeller hat spinning slowly. “Whats up?”

“My dad just messaged me,” Tommy says. Gordon almost considers pulling over and demanding to see the texts. “He, uh, he said I can come stay with him?”

“I thought you were an orphan?” Bubby asks, leaning forward and grabbing onto Gordon’s seat. 

“It’s complicated,” Tommy says. “But, uh, if you guys wanna come stay too, I’m sure it’ll be fine!”

Bubby makes a thoughtful noise. “Wait, is your dad the weird guy in the suit who was at Chuck E Cheese? Fuck no, I’m not staying with him.”

“I’d like to stay with Bubby,” Coomer says.

“Okay, well, I’ll guess we’ll...split up, then. Coomer and Bubby can get a hotel, Tommy stays with his dad, I go home.”

“We’ll see each other again though, right?” Tommy asks, eyebrows furrowed.

Gordon and Coomer both say “Of course!” at the exact same moment. Gordon keeps one hand on the wheel as he reaches over to Tommy and rests the other on his knee. “You guys are stuck with me whether you like it or not. Science Team stays together.”

Tommy pats his hand, and doesn’t say anything else as they pull into the parking lot of the Los Gatos Garden Inn. The four of them shuffle into the lobby, Sunkist staying in the car - windows rolled down, of course. Tommy and Coomer immediately get distracted by the tourist brochures, even though most of them advertise places a long drive from where they are. Bubby, at least, is being helpful. Sorta.

“Just so you know, we only have singles available right now. That’s a room with just one bed,” the receptionist informs them.

Gordon turns to Bubby. “You and Coomer gonna be okay with that?”

Bubby hunches his shoulders up. “I can sleep on the floor if I have to,” he says. 

“If you insist.”

Gordon books it. It’s not _as_ bad as he was worried it would be, but still, he has a need to check his bank account. To his surprise, when he opens his banking app, he’s informed that he has nearly _a million dollars_ that were just deposited. Clicking the deposit gives him no useful information, the source being a string of glitched out text.

Okay. Sure. Fine! Why not.

Bubby’s eyeing him strangely, like he wants to ask something, but Gordon ignores him. “Okay! Coomer, Bubby, you guys are set. Do you, uh...need anything?” Oh, shit, they don’t have any stuff, do they? Everything they owned is probably still in Black Mesa, if it even existed in the first place. “Do we need to go shopping?”

Bubby picks up the collar of his lab coat, sniffs it, and recoils. “Yes, we do.”

“Alright. Let’s fucking…go to Target, I guess?”

\---

Wrangling the three of them through Target may actually be harder than getting through Black Mesa. It feels like every second someone is wandering off, getting sidetracked by something. First it’s Bubby insisting he needs some space suit pajamas, then Tommy discovering the toys section, then Coomer harassing some random employee he somehow mistook for Gordon. At least Sunkist is behaving. She doesn’t have a leash, but she stays near Tommy anyway and doesn’t run off once.

“Guys, we do _not_ need all this,” Gordon says as Tommy stacks a third 12-pack of soda in the cart. “We’re just getting the essentials. Some clothing, toothbrushes, that sorta thing. Okay?”

He feels like he’s aged several years by the time they make it out. But they’re out, and Gordon’s bank still says it has a ridiculous amount of money, and they have everything they could need for the next while, so. Gordon’s feeling confident. He drops Bubby and Coomer off at the hotel, helping them carry everything inside. They’ll be okay there. It’s one of those hotels you can basically live in long term, with a minikitchen and everything. He wonders how the single bed is gonna go.

Well, not his problem. 

“Alright, next up is to take you to your dad’s, right?”

Tommy nods, buckling his seatbelt, then rattles off the address. Gordon plugs it into his gps. It’s barely ten minutes from his apartment.

Gordon’s running out of things to say, but Tommy seems content with the silence. They’ve never really gotten to have a peaceful quiet like this. In Black Mesa quiet moments never lasted very long, and the day has been extremely hectic. It’s not until Gordon is pulling up to Tommy’s house that he feels the need to speak.

“Holy _shit_ , dude. Your dad lives in a fucking _mansion._ Why were you staying in the Black Mesa dorms?”

“I-it’s company policy, Mr. Freeman,” Tommy says, wringing his hands together. Gordon doesn’t press. Probably didn’t exist in the game - though in that case, how does it exist now?

He can worry later. Tommy’s getting out of the car, and Gordon offers to help him carry stuff but Tommy assures him he’s fine. Gordon’s glad, to tell the truth - he doesn’t wanna risk interacting with G-Man again. 

“I’ll see you later, Mr. Freeman!” Tommy says as he waves goodbye, and Sunkist gives a single farewell bark.

“See ya soon, Tommy,” Gordon says, and he drives off.


	2. came out of a small thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gordon's got a new house guest.

Gordon’s grateful to get home. He’s glad to have the Science Team back and all, but they’re a little exhausting to deal with, and he’s got a million questions to worry about. His brain is rushing a million miles a minute as he fumbles with his keys, finally unlocking the door on the third try.

When he enters his apartment, he’s greeted with something - some _one_ \- on his couch. 

They don’t look alive. Their vest and helmet are completely gone and their clothing is ripped and torn, revealing graying skin and even bone in some places. One of their eyes is gone, an empty socket staring blankly at Gordon, and the other is an unsettling, almost glowing yellow.

“ _Benrey?_ ” Gordon shouts, grabbing at the door again, hiding behind it like a shield. Benrey doesn’t move other than his single intact eye blinking slowly at Gordon. 

“Yo,” he says, in a hoarse whisper. 

“What the _fuck_ are you doing in my house?” Gordon demands. poking out from behind the door a little further. Benrey’s missing half his mouth but he still manages to make an obnoxious lip-smacking noise.

“Dunno,” he says after a moment. 

Should he call the Science Team? None of them had cars, so even if he did there’s no way for them to get to him. And he’s not leaving Benrey in his apartment _alone_. 

He wishes he still had his gun arm, annoying as it was. Or just a gun in general. Or even a knife?

Wait.

He darts away from the door, past Benrey and into the kitchen, grabbing the biggest knife he can find. It’s admittedly not much, just an old battered steak knife that he hasn’t sharpened in years, but it’s _something_. He marches back into the living room, holding out the knife as threateningly as he can. 

“You’ve got some fucking explaining to do, man.” His voice stays steady as he speaks, though his hand shakes a little. Might just be him still getting used to the prosthetic, though. “How are you alive?”

“Dunno,” Benrey says again. He coughs suddenly, which is way more horrifying when a half-skeleton does it, and clears his throat. “I just woke up, bro.”

“You woke up in my living room?” He lowers the knife just a little. Not putting it down, but a less intense angle, so his stupid hand will stop shaking. Benrey doesn’t really seem to notice, staring blankly at the air now. There’s bits of dried blood in their hair, dark enough to blend in with the messy black strands.

“Your apartment sucks, bro,” Benrey says. Gordon bites his lip to stop himself from yelling. “Couch is like. Bad.”

“What,” Gordon says, keeping his tone as even as possible, “does that mean?”

“Can’t get off it.” They smile with the half of a mouth they still have. “Remember when - when I put the glue in the car? Did you prank me back?”

“You think I put glue on my couch so I could trap you there when you randomly appeared in my house?”

“Uhhh. Yeah.”

“I think you’re full of shit,” Gordon says, pinching the bridge of his nose. “ _Deep breaths_ ,” he whispers to himself, and then, louder, “Do you have _any_ idea how you ended up here?”

“No thoughts,” Benrey says, eye dropping shut. “Head empty.”

“Fucking - cool. Great. This is _fantastic._ ”

Their eye opens again, looking towards Gordon this time. “Gordon mad? Gordon Freemad?”

“Yes I’m fucking mad!” He nearly flings his hands in the air, remembering the knife and instead clutching his hair with his free hand. “I thought I was _done_ dealing with your bullshit!”

“Me too,” Benrey says.

Gordon sighs. “Do you know anything? Literally _any_ useful information. Like, what the fuck is up with....your whole situation there?”

“Huh?” Their head tilts slightly, barely perceptible if it weren’t the first real movement Benrey’s made.

“You look like…” _like you died,_ Gordon thinks but doesn’t say. “You look a bit shit.”

This time Benrey manages a ghost of a shrug. “Dunno.”

“Okay. Okay, cool, you’re just in my apartment and apparently can’t move and look like a corpse and don’t know anything. This is _exactly_ what I was hoping for.”

“It be like that sometimes,” Benrey says, gaze drifting up to the ceiling. “Yo, mind being quiet? I wanna take a nap.”

Deep breaths. 

“You know what? Fine. Take a nap, and maybe you’ll remember something when you wake up. But I’m keeping an eye on you.”

“K,” Benrey says, and then it’s like he just shuts off. His eye slides shut, the faint rise and fall of his chest just….stopping.

Did he just die? Again? On Gordon’s couch?

He’ll check back in an hour or so. If he’s dead, well, Gordon won’t be too upset. 

He makes his way back to his bedroom, considering a nap of his own but far too wired now. This whole situation was weird enough to begin with, without having to worry about Benrey trying to kill him again. He ends up shooting a text to Coomer. 

**Benrey’s back.**

> **Excellent news! 😀**

Gordon drags his hands down his face, another action that feels way weirder with the prosthetic. 

**NOT good news. Bad news. Did you forget he tried to kill us?**

> **Now Gordon, that’s no way to speak about a friend! 🙁**

**He is NOT my friend.**

**Is bubby with you?**

> **Yes!**
> 
> **He says hello! 😀**

**Does bubby have a phone? Can you have him text me?**

**Also, do you know tommy’s number?**

It takes a while, but Gordon manages to get a group chat set up with the Science Team. They take the news of Benrey’s return well - a little _too_ well, in Gordon’s opinion. Tommy even offers to have Benrey stay with him.

Gordon steps out of his room, walking slowly to the couch in case Benrey’s awake. He’s still passed out, luckily, and he also looks a bit less...dead than he did earlier. The flesh on his face has mostly knitted itself back together, and he actually seems to be breathing now. His clothes are still a wreck, though, and his skin is pale and tinged with gray. Except for the space around his eyes - the skin there is dark, almost black, like a shadow but without anything casting it.

It’s tempting to shove him off and let Tommy deal with him. But at the same time...It’s not that Gordon doesn’t trust Tommy or anything, it’s just. Tommy is probably the nicest of the Science Team. He and Benrey had even been friends for a while. He can’t trust that Tommy will actually keep an eye on them.

**I can deal with benrey.**

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay i was right this part is gonna be three chapters. this and chapter 3 are a bit shorter tho so sorry about that. also i'm sad b/c in google docs i had coomer and gordon's text convo colour coded but i can't do that on ao3 ): hopefully it's still clear???
> 
> hope u enjoyed! thank u for reading!


	3. feeling like a big bang

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gordon deals with Benrey.

Gordon doesn’t leave the living room again except to grab some food, planting himself on the floor so he can keep an eye on Benrey. He keeps the knife with him too. 

It occurs to him that he hasn’t checked the date yet. He’d been in Black Mesa for what, a week? But the date on his phone is the same as when he’d first started playing. 

Everything just keeps getting weirder, but on the plus side it means no one’s gonna be freaking out about him being missing. He hasn’t missed his week with Joshua. Shit, he should call Mari, see if she can keep him a little longer. He needs to make sure Benrey isn’t gonna do anything stupid before he lets them anywhere near Joshua.

It’s a few hours later when Benrey finally wakes up, yellow eyes blinking open slowly. He seems almost completely healed now, ignoring the weird shit about him that’s always there.

“You’re awake,” Gordon says, leaning over Benrey to make sure they know he’s here. 

“Bbb,” Benrey says.

“I did some thinking while you were asleep. You’re staying here.”

Benrey’s eyes widen, then fall again as a grin spreads across his face. “Yeah? We gonna be roommates? Buddies? Free - uh, Friendlyman?”

“We’re  _ not _ friends,” Gordon says, glancing at the knife next to him. Benrey’s gaze follows his own, and their grin slips. “You’re staying here so I can keep an eye on you.”

“You don’t trust your good pal Benrey?” He pouts at Gordon, tilting his head slightly. Gordon waves his prosthetic in front of them.

“Give me a  _ single _ reason I should trust you.”

Benrey’s silent. Good. “Okay, so, some ground rules. No killing people. No hurting people. Honestly, I think it’d be best if you just don’t leave the apartment, but if you  _ need _ to then you don’t go out alone. Don’t touch my stuff. Don’t -”

“Don’t do anything, yeah, I get it.” Benrey hunches their shoulders up. “Do I get to make rules?”

“Depends on what they are.”

“Uhhhhhh.” Benrey taps their chin. “No killing me again,” they say, finally, and then fall back into silence.

“Is - is that it?”

They nod.

“As long as you don’t try to kill me, I don’t have any reason to try and kill you. So, yeah, that’s - that’s fine.” Kind of a weird thing to make a rule about, but. Benrey’s a weird dude. “You get the gist of my rules?”

“Don’t do anything ever,” Benrey says, rolling their eyes. 

Gordon bites the inside of his cheek to keep himself from yelling at them. “Basically, yeah.”

Benrey huffs. “Can I get up?”

“Are you not stuck on the couch anymore?”

Benrey raises their arm, poking Gordon’s nose. He reels back, and they take the opportunity to push themself up to a seated position. “Yeah. It’s, everythings all cool now.” He looks down at himself, tugging on the bottom of his shirt and accidentally tearing a piece off. “Aw. That’s sucks.”

Gordon really does not want to give Benrey his clothing, but he looks like he’s thinking about taking off his shirt and that’s a thousand times worse. “Stay there,” he says, going to his bedroom to grab him some clothing. He finds an old NASA shirt ( a little worn but still in good shape), some black sweatpants, and even grabs him an old gray beanie. Gordon may not like Benrey, but he can still be nice, and the dude looks weird without a hat of some kind. 

Benrey’s still sitting there when Gordon gets back. “Catch,” he says, tossing them the clothing, which they don’t catch and instead allow to hit them. The hat lands on the floor. “Dude. It’s clothing. For you.”

“Oh, poggers,” Benrey says, and then he takes off his shirt.

Gordon means to look away, but instead ends up staring. Benrey’s got some kind of scar in the middle of his chest, a line from his collarbone down his sternum, with smaller lines branching out of it like lightning. They catch him staring, giving him a grin as they pull their new shirt down.

“Whatcha lookin’ at?” Benrey asks, leaning forward, arms resting on their knees and head in their hands.

“Nothing,” Gordon says quickly. “Just - uh -”

“‘S from the whole, uh, getting killed thing.” Benrey says, still smiling. “You gonna keep staring?”

Gordon turns around and walks back into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. His face feels warm.

This...is going to be weird.

He waits a few minutes before poking his head into the living room again, right as Benrey pulls the hat over his head. His hair isn’t long, exactly, but it’s thick and fluffy, the kind that really shouldn’t be able to fit into a hat. Then again, the helmet must’ve been even worse, and he never seemed to have any issue with that.

Benrey doesn’t let go of the hat even once it’s on, continuing to pull until it covers his face and then letting his hands just hang there.

What a fucking weirdo.

Gordon doesn’t bother trying to be quiet when he walks into the living room, wanting to alert Benrey this time. He peels the beanie back a bit, looking up at Gordon.

“Yo,” he says, giving him a sharp-toothed grin. And then, so quiet Gordon thinks he might be imagining it, they add: “Thanks.”

“Uh, no problem, dude. We should probably get you some clothes of your own though, at some point.” 

Benrey tilts his head. “I got this sweet nasa shirt now though.” He says it like  _ naysa _ , and the worst part is Gordon can’t tell if he’s doing it on purpose. 

“Dude, you can’t just have one shirt. Look, we’ll…” He’d literally  _ just  _ said how ideally he wouldn’t have Benrey leaving the house, but, well. He’ll make an exception this once. “We’ll go to Target or something tomorrow.” Man, this would’ve been easier if Benrey had appeared in Black Mesa like everyone else. But no! He has to be difficult. And now Gordon has to go shopping, again.

“Cool,” Benrey says, swinging their legs back and forth. “So, Feetman, buddy -”

“I am not your buddy and that is not my name.”

“Goooordonnn,” Benrey says, drawing it out obnoxiously. “You got PS3?”

“I’m more of a PC gamer,” Gordon admits. Benrey’s eyes narrow.

“Booo,” he mutters, flopping sideways back onto the couch. “This is  _ big _ sucks, man. I wanna go back to sleep.”

Gordon glances at his phone, wincing when he sees the time. It’s past midnight, getting close to 1:00 AM, and while he can be a night owl, it’s a habit he’s trying to break.

“Knock yourself out, dude. I’m gonna go to sleep.” He turns to go back into his room, then stops. “Don’t do anything stupid while I’m sleeping. Don’t break anything, or set anything on fire, or -”

“Mmmuh bluh muuh,” Benrey says, rolling over so their face is against the couch cushions. Gordon rubs his face with his hands.

Maybe he shouldn’t have agreed to not kill Benrey again.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus ends part one!
> 
> Part two should go up within like....a week or so. It's shaping up to be a bit longer than part one though. Anyway I hope you enjoyed!!!

**Author's Note:**

> me: i'm not gonna write a big multichapter fic for hlvrai. i'm just gonna do some little one shots.  
> me a week later having written 10k: oh no. 
> 
> so uhhh welcome to part one?? this fic is probably gonna be 4 parts but idk how many chapters each part will have. tentatively 3 for this one?? the outline for this fic is 500 words. i may be losing my mind a bit.
> 
> fic and chapter title from "infinitesimal" by mother mother. series title from "jump the fence" by mother mother. yes i really like mother mother.
> 
> i'm on tumblr @lakesandquarries, come chat with me!


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